Ace of Trancy
by DexheartDusk
Summary: Ever wonder what happened to the REAL Alois Trancy? Well, here you have it! Ace lived his whole life not knowing who he really was. One day, a demon shows up and claims to know him. But answers only lead to more questions. Why is Ace's body the way it is, and what is this legend he keeps hearing about?
1. Chapter 1

"I want you to get rid of that thing!" The woman commanded, pointing to the bassinet that held her child.

The demon looked in and saw a healthy baby wrapped in blue blankets. "Who is this?"

"My child." The woman held her arms around her chest. "He was born three days ago. My husband won't believe the truth, and I can't live with it."

"The truth?" the demon picked up the child. Once the contract was formed, he would be charged with removing him from the world.

"That boy is a monster." The woman stepped backwards, away from the baby. "He's deformed. He's not a full boy."

The demon had heard of children like this. Most were said to be the cause of demon lovers; but it was simply a deformity. The child was simply neither a boy, nor a girl.

"And you would give your own soul to remove him?" The woman nodded. "Very well. Then the contract is formed!"

The woman dropped to her knees, wisps of silver energy floating away from her body. "Suicide." She breathed before falling onto her stomach.

The demon knew what she was referring to. He placed an open bottle of her perfume by her hand. The scene would look as though she'd killed herself after discovering her child gone.

_Now for this._ He thought, looking down at the baby.

Unlike other demons, he could not bring himself to kill the child. Instead, he carried it to a village and left the bundle on a doorstep.

_Only a nobleman's physician would see the deformity._ He told himself. _Here, he'll grow up as a normal boy._

He stayed until dawn, when the door opened and a woman found the child. She carried him inside, into her family.

The demon smiled and turned to leave. _Goodbye, Alois Trancy._

* * *

**Twelve Years Later**

_Well, it was fun while it lasted._ I thought as the cart pulled away from the square.

I'd always known that my family was poor. We relied mostly on travelers who stayed at our inn. I'd gotten a job at a small tavern, but that hadn't lasted long. This was the only way to keep my family from starving.

"What's going to happen to us?" The boy beside me pulled at my sleeve. He'd been my neighbor.

"Probably slavery." I confessed. There was no use lying to him, even if he was only nine. "Heard a nobleman's paid our families to take us away."

"Ace, no one wants to be reminded of why we're the ones on this cart." The boy on my other side poked me. He'd lived just down the road.

"Why did you volunteer, Ace?" The little boy asked.

"I've got brothers to think about." I smiled at him. "They deserve a chance."

"Will you be my big brother where we're going?"

"Sure." I had enough family love for everyone on the cart, which I realized had stopped moving.

"Up you go!" The driver's loud voice came from behind the cart. He was hoisting up a new boy. The newcomer didn't seem to be aware of what was going on around him. Once he was safely on board, the driver returned to the front of the cart and it started moving again.

"Did you see him?" One boy whispered. "He was just standing there. In the middle of the road."

"Sucks to be him." Another replied.

I looked back at the new boy. There were only three boys between us. I could clearly see his face, even if it was looking down. I'd never seen the boy before. _Must be from a different village._ I guessed.

* * *

When we got to the nobleman's manor, the little boy beside me started shaking. He caught my eye and pointed at the crest on the gates. A giant spider looked back at us.

"We'll be fine." I rubbed his back slowly. A few boys whispered _mommy_ behind us, but I knew they were jealous and wanting some comfort.

The cart stopped by the servant entrance and the driver hauled us off one at a time. Once we were inside, we were ordered to strip down to our underwear.

_Physical exam._ I half prayed. _They want to know who'd be good doing heavy lifting._ I paled at the thought of the alternative.

Back in the village, I'd seen some girls hanging around the richer side in modified dresses. When I'd talked to one, she'd said their job was to pleasure men for money. I'd been old enough to know what she meant.

We were told to line up single file outside a fancy looking set of doors. I noticed that the strange boy was again only three boys away from me. When the doors opened, we walked in. One by one, we approached an old man who was lounging on a sofa. He'd look a boy up and down, then call for the next boy. It went pretty fast and soon it was the strange boy's turn.

But when he stepped forward, the man stood up and attacked him with his walking stick. He shouted insults at the boy and jabbed his face. Then he sat down like nothing happened and called for the next boy.

I broke out of the line to help the boy. The old man threw his cane at my head, but it missed and he had a servant bring it back. Once I'd helped the boy out of the room, a servant came up to me and hit me with a plank. "Know your place." He spat.

"My place is to help others." I said back, watching the boy stumble behind the other boys who had finished. I was lead in a different direction for disciplinary action.

* * *

I didn't see the boy again until nearly a month later. I was being washed after my discipline lesson when he was led to the washing station beside me.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. The maids didn't care if we talked as long as it didn't interfere with their jobs.

He looked over at me, but didn't respond.

"Has he hit you since then? That first day?" I reminded him and saw a spark of recognition in his eyes. He shook his head. "That's good." I smiled to show I wanted to be friends. "I'm Ace."

"Jim." He almost whispered. "You really made him mad."

"If being myself makes him mad, then let him be mad." I grit my teeth when the maid started scrubbing my lower back with the bristly brush. "I'm not going to change who I am for some old man."

He nodded. The conversation seemed to be over. I hoped that I'd get the chance to talk to him again, but that was the last time I saw Jim.

The next morning a servant came to my dungeon-room and told me that the Lord Trancy had died in his sleep due to illness and that his lost son had appeared again. I didn't understand at first, then realized that the old man was Trancy.

I was sent away with the rest of the boys. I met up with the young boy I'd talked to on our way to the manor and he told me what had happened during the past month. After I'd been carted off to be whipped, they'd been cleaned and given clothes that barely covered them. I made him skip those parts.

"Basically, that strange boy we saw went into the old man's room last night and we haven't seen him since. He didn't leave with the rest of us."

I said goodbye to him at the gate and watched everyone go their separate ways. I turned to look back at the manor and noticed something moving at one of the windows. I squinted to see better and realized it was the boy.

His hair had been combed nicely and his clothes looked expensive. The sight of him surprised me, but I was even more startled by what I saw beside him. A tall butler stood just behind him. Even from that far away, I could tell his eyes held no feelings.

* * *

**Five Years Later**

On the fifth anniversary of my adoption, my new father sent me carriages full of gifts. Due to his work overseas, he couldn't come home. I didn't really care. It wasn't my birthday, so him not being there didn't make me sad or upset.

The gifts were mostly clothes. I gave them to the servants to put in one of my walk-in closets. Some were books, which I sent to my room. I didn't open all the gifts. That would have taken me all day.

"My lord, where would you like to have your tea?" a servant asked once I'd taken care of the gifts.

"In the garden." I started walking in that direction. "Earl Gray tea among the blooming roses."

She chuckled. "Right away, Lord Grey."

I stifled a laugh. My new father was Earl Grey. Since I was legally his son, I was Lord Grey, since there can only be one Earl Grey at a time.

_This is my second adoption._ I reminded myself. I'd known that my first family wasn't my birth family since I was five and heard my mom talking about how she'd found me when I was only a few days old. _I wish I knew who I was before I was Ace Willow._

As I sat in the garden with my tea, my mind started to wander. I thought about the village where I'd been raised and hoped that the other boys were safe. I thought about my family and prayed they weren't starving. I thought about Jim. That strange boy who didn't leave with the rest of us.

_I wish I could see him again._ I thought to myself. _Maybe ask him what happened that night._

A rustling in the bushes dragged me from my thoughts. I looked behind me and saw a man holding a bloom in his hand. "You've grown up well."

"This is private property!" I said, raising quickly to my feet. "Who are you?!"

The man sighed almost regretfully. "She didn't give me a name. It all happened so fast. Only a matter of minutes. Some take years to fulfill."

"What are you going on about?!" I was starting to get impatient.

"But I stayed a few more hours." He continued. His eyes met mine and he smiled. "I stayed for you. Why? Anyone else would have killed you and been done with it. But I couldn't. Not you."

I was scared. The man wasn't making any sense, and he was talking about killing me. "Did my father send you? Is this a prank? For my adoption day?"

"Your father is dead." He said in reply.

"What?" My knees buckled and I was forced to sit down again. _Orphaned. Again._

"You've had quite a life." The man approached the tea table and stood in front of me so I'd be forced to look at him. "I've been watching you. How many names have you had?"

"My name is Ace." I whispered.

"Yes, two of your names have been Ace." He rested his hand on my shoulder. "Tell me, does anyone else know what's happening to you?" His hand moved down until it rested over my heart. "Boys don't look like this, do they?"

"Leave me alone!" I slapped his hand away and stood up. "Who are you?!"

"I'm a demon." The man smirked. "But a better question is, who are you?"

* * *

**122 years later**

I made a contract. Now, I can't die. But I feel dead.

Thomas made me a demon to fulfill our contract. It was the only way since Jim was already dead.

"Alice?" Thomas said softly as he entered my hotel room.

How many names have I had? For the first three days of my life, I was Alois Trancy, an Earl's son. Then I was Ace Willow until I was twelve and became Ace Grey. Now, I'm Alice Grey, Ace's great-granddaughter.

"Alice, I've brought you breakfast." Thomas removed the sheets that lay over my bed. "Alice?"

I have so many questions, most of which will never be answered. Why was I abandoned? What happened to Jim? What am I?

Thomas turned away from the empty bed and saw me sitting at the window. "There you are."

"Thomas, what am I?" I asked my routine morning question.

"You're a demon, Alice."

"Besides that. What makes me a monster?"

He sighed. "Alois Trancy was born both a boy and a girl. Disgusted, his mother sold her soul to make him disappear." He tried to smile. "Alice Grey, on the other hand, is a beautiful young lady with a kind heart."

"And the lower body of a boy." I added. I stared out the window at the harbor's boats floating in the dark water. "I'm a monster."

Thomas walked over and draped a sweater over my shoulders. "You are not a monster." His hand brushed against my ear, his fingers outlining the mark – his mark – on my earlobe. "You are important."

"Because I'm unique?" I laughed bitterly. "Or because I'm 'The Demon's Sound'?"

Thomas had told me the legend after he'd seen the marks. To anyone else who saw them, they'd just look like earrings. But to Thomas, they meant I was one of three humans who held power over demons.

I, along with 'The Demon's Sight' and 'The Demon's Voice', are destined to hold the power to command demonic armies. But only if the three of us are together, which is impossible now. 'The Demon's Voice' is dead.

"Alice, look at me." Thomas directed my chin so I was looking into his eyes. "You are important to me, if not anyone else."

My mind wandered to our contract, even though I knew that wasn't what he was talking about. "But, now that I'm a demon, you can't eat my soul."

He smirked. "Then I'll just have to settle for your body." He lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bed. "For now, no matter who you are, you are mine."

* * *

**Wow, cheesy ending! Don't think I'll ever do that again! Haha!**

**Don't worry, there's more coming. I'll get into the legend so more in later chapters.**

**I hope this goes over as well as my other stories. Please send comments to let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2

Over the course of my life, I've had many names. I don't have any memory of being called my first name, since I was only a few days old when it changed. My most memorable name change was the first time I was called 'Alice', since it commemorated me changing from a boy to a girl.

* * *

**1891**

"Do you know what's happening to me?" I asked the strange man who claimed to be a demon. We had abandoned the garden in favour of the privacy my room offered. I now pulled my plain shirt over my head to reveal the bandages that wound around my chest. "Why am I like this?"

"You were born with this condition." The man explained. "It scared your mother. That's why she hired me. You aren't a boy." I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to stop me. "Nor are you a girl."

"So what am I?!" I felt tears slip down my cheeks. "All my life, I thought I was a normal boy. Suddenly, things are growing larger that shouldn't, and my life's being turned upside-down."

"It's just a medical condition." The man tried to reassure me. "It does not define your life."

"I was abandoned by my birth parents because of it! That's pretty important!" I tried to calm myself down by taking a few deep breaths. "Will it go away?" I waved my hand at the bandages.

"No." The man looked almost sad, as if he were feeling sorrow for me. "This will never change."

"Then why didn't you just kill me?!" I swiped at my eyes as new tears started to flow. "Death would have been better than this! I can't produce an heir if I'm not a boy! And I can't get married if I'm not a girl! I'm nothing!"

The man wrapped his arms around me in a comforting gesture. "That is not true. You are not nothing. There have been many people who have cared for you, loved you. I'm sure you have changed many lives."

I started to shake my head, but stopped when I remembered Jim. We'd only spoken that one time, but… "I want to meet him again!" I declared. "I want to see Jim again!" I squirmed out of the man's arms and looked directly into his eyes. "I think my life changed his. Please, help me!"

His eyes grew dark and he looked away. "I don't think that's possible."

"I'll sign a contract!" I grabbed his hands. "Please! There's no one else I can think of! I have to see him! Just let me see him, and you can have my soul!"

The man grimaced, but said "Alright. The contract is formed."

Pain split my ears and I cried out. My knees gave out and I slumped forward, only half aware that the man had caught me. _Branding?_ I thought of cows as the pain diminished and I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

**2013**

"Thomas?" I asked as we walked down the plank connecting the ship to the ground. "Why are we back here?"

A lot had changed, but I could still tell we were standing on the same dock we'd left from over a century earlier. Everything was coated in concrete, but it still smelled the same.

"I would have thought you'd be happy to be home, Alice." Thomas smiled down at me.

"I have nothing but bad memories of England."

"Alice, that can't be true." He set down our bags by a bench and motioned for me to sit. "There must be some good ones. It's just easier to remember the bad."

I gave a little smile. "Alright, there is one. Even though we were poor, Mrs. Willow always made special meals on our birthdays. Although, thinking about it now, I always got my special meal three days late." My smile faded. "That woman put up with me for three days. Why?"

"Good memories, Alice." Thomas reminded me. "What about Jim?"

"I didn't really know him." I confessed. "I really only talked to him once, the night before Lord—" I cut myself off. "Trancy!"

"Alice?"

"My first name was Alois Trancy, right?" Thomas nodded and I felt my face go pale. "That means that man was my father." I wrung my hands together in anger. "I hated him. He did such awful things to those boys, to Jim."

"He wasn't always like that." Thomas tried to assure me. "When he discovered his son gone and his wife dead, he changed."

"So it's your fault." I tried to joke. Thomas half-smiled, so I knew he got it. "I know he wouldn't have recognised me, but he threw a cane at my head."

"Were you hurt?" he tried to hide it, but I heard worry in his voice.

I shook my head. "He missed. But he did have me taken away. I…" I swallowed around the lump that had formed in my throat. "I never went through the things the other boys did."

Thomas didn't say anything, but I knew we were thinking the same thing. If I hadn't stepped out of line, my father would have done unthinkable things to me without knowing who I was.

"Good memories." Thomas tried again to get me on track.

"I taught my brothers how to fish." I smiled, remembering the bright day. "It was a disaster. We didn't catch anything because Peter kept jumping into the water when he saw one."

* * *

**2001**

I opened my eyes when Thomas pulled the rubble off of me. His hair was white with plaster dust and his clothes were ripped and bloody, even though he didn't appear to have a scratch on him. I coughed and a cloud of dust rose from my body.

"Austin, are you hurt?"

I grimaced at the name. I'd been called many things, but this was my least favourite. "Yeah, I'm fine." I coughed again. "Can you help me up?"

He tossed the concrete like it was foam and extended his hand. "Are any of your bones broken?"

I rotated my shoulder. It was sore, but not broken. "No. How long was I under there?"

"A few days." Thomas lowered his head is a slight bow. "My apologies. I was unable to get here sooner."

"Don't do that." I waved my hand in his face. "Don't bow. You are not a butler, understand."

"Yes, Austin."

I grimaced again, but hid it by looking around. "I guess I'm dead, huh?"

"Officially, yes."

"So I need a new name." I examined my clothes. They were ripped and bloody, but still in one piece. The biggest rip was down my side where a pipe had caught me. "How about Able?" All of my names always had one thing in common; they always started with the same letter.

Thomas thought about it and smiled. "Or…" he reached out and pulled something through the rip in my shirt. It was the bandage I used to suppress my… unnatural-natural growth. "How about Alice?"

I laughed. "I've never been a girl before." I took a deep breath, feeling the dusty air fill my lungs freely now that the tight bandages had been removed. "I think I might like it."

* * *

**2013**

_I'm dead._ I remembered suddenly. I could usually supress the memory when I was with Thomas, but sometimes something would remind me that I existed in a separate world than those around me.

The church bells were loud, but the crowd's cheers were louder. Millions of flower petals danced in the wind after being tossed overhead. The bride and groom looked genuinely happy smiling at their guests.

"Young love." Thomas observed from where we stood across the street from the church.

"I give them two years." I commented, scanning the crowd. "He'll cheat, she'll leave. They won't get divorced, instead saying they'll try again. But she'll never trust him fully again."

Thomas's arm landed gently over my shoulders. "Are you okay?" He could tell when I was depressed.

"I'm dead." I reminded him. "I'll never experience what they have."

"The dead can still love." He leaned down to kiss my forehead.

I leaned against his side and let him support me. He was all I had left. I'd never see my family again. Never meet Jim. All I could do was travel the world, searching for something that didn't exist.

But he'd be by my side. Always.

"Good memories." I mumbled.

"Have you thought of anymore?"

I smiled. "England was where I met you. Where you changed my life, made me feel like something other than a mistake. England was where my new life started."

Even though I was now a demon, I'm still 'The Demon's Sound'. I was human when I made my contract, so I still fit the criteria of the legend. 'The Demon's Sight' was also now a demon. Thomas and I are searching for him, because there is a way to bring 'The Demon's Voice' back.

* * *

**Not sure if this is a cliffhanger or not. If it is, it's not very good, huh? The first chapter was actually a stand alone when I first wrote it, but my brother wanted to hear more, so it's becoming a real story.**

**Comments please.**


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